Brown's letter row continues

Tuesday, 10 November 2009 12:00 AM

By Emmeline Saunders

The row over Gordon Brown's letter of condolence to the mother of a soldier who died serving in Afghanistan continues today with the emergence of a transcript of a telephone call between Jacqui Janes and the prime minister.

The phone call was made to Mrs Janes on Sunday evening and was recorded on speakerphone by a friend in her room. The tape was sent to The Sun, which has a transcript of the 13-minute exchange on its website.

Mr Brown is accused of spelling both Jamie, who was 20 when he was killed by a bomb on 5th October, and his mother's names wrong in the letter.

During the phone call, Mrs Janes told the prime minister her son could have survived but for a lack of equipment.

"How would you like it if one of your children, God forbid, went to a war ... protecting his Queen and country, and because of [a] lack, lack of helicopters, lack of equipment your child bled to death?

"And then you had the coroner have to tell you his every injury?"

Mr Brown said later: "I'm very sorry you took offence about my letter.

"I've tried my best to pass on my condolences to you."

The handwritten letter, penned in black felt-tip because of Mr Brown's poor eyesight, contained several other errors which Mrs Janes criticised as a "disrespectful" quickly scrawled insult.

The Sun has been accused of exploiting Mrs Janes' grief by adopting her to be a figurehead of the campaign against the government.

Lord Mandelson said although Mr Brown's handwriting was "not great", the public must understand the row was being orchestrated by a paper that is actively campaigning against the Labour government.

He said it was "unthinkable" the prime minister would want to show disrespect to Jamie, his family or any other bereaved relative.

In a statement by Downing Street yesterday lunchtime, Mr Brown apologised if his handwriting was difficult to read. He said: "I have at all times acted in good faith seeking to do the right thing. I do not think anyone will believe that I write letters with any intent to cause offence."

In a press conference this morning, members of the press asked the prime minister about the letter.

He covered much the same ground as yesterday's statement. He said he would have liked to talk more to Mrs Janes about bereavement and the way parents take time to recover, but felt it would be inappropriate as he did not know her personally.

This was a reference to the loss of his first daughter, Jennifer, although he did not use her name.

In a public message to Mrs Janes, he said: "Over time, comfort comes from understanding that your son has played an important role in the security of our country, and has died in such a courageous and brave way that nobody will ever forget him."

The Sun's political editor asked why Mr Brown did not admit that he misspelt Mrs Janes' and her son's names, to which the prime minister replied he wanted Jacqui to understand his words were sincerely meant. "The last thing on my mind was to cause any offence to Jacqui Janes," he said.

Mr Brown also told politics.co.uk criticism was part of the job. He stressed he is a parent too, and understood how long it takes to handle "the grief we've all experienced".

The press conference should put to bed the row over his letter. None of the other newspapers, aside from The Sun, pursued the line about his refusal to admit spelling mistakes, but the affair may raise further questions over public support for military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Serious about politics?

Dedicate one year of your life to getting to the heart of current issues in global politics. Our courses allow you to specialise in development and policy-making, international relations, and political journalism and communications.

Tags:
• armed forces
,
• defence
,
• foreign policy